Homestay
A room in our home, not a hotel.
Rehman and Sitara have been hosting travellers in Ghulkin for years. You get a room, Wakhi food from the kitchen, and a family who will talk to you about the valley until midnight.
Ghulkin is a Wakhi village in Gojal, Upper Hunza, off the Karakoram Highway between Gulmit and Passu. It is a working village of orchards, irrigation channels and stone houses, not a resort strip, and staying here is closer to being someone's guest than being someone's customer.
The house is run by Rehman and Sitara. Their son Ali guides the treks. Guests keep saying the same two things in their reviews, so they are probably the truest things we can tell you: the food is very good, and it is hard to leave on the day you planned to.
What staying here is actually like
You eat with the family. Sitara cooks Wakhi food, which in this valley means a lot of apricot, mulberry, buckwheat and dairy, including Sitara's delicious homemade butter. Breakfast is on the table when you come down. Dinner is whenever the walking finishes.
The room itself
The rooms look out at the mountains, which is not a marketing line here so much as an unavoidable fact of the geography. Guests have specifically mentioned hot showers and comfortable beds, both of which are worth knowing about in a village at this altitude.
What is within reach
Attabad Lake, the Passu Cones, the Hussaini and Passu suspension bridges and Borith Lake are all day trips or less. Baskochi meadow is a walk from the village. The Ghulkin and Passu glaciers and the Patundas plateau start close enough that you can trek and still sleep here the same night. If you want a guide for any of it, that is Ali.
Who this suits
People who want to be in the valley rather than look at it. Couples, solo travellers, and families are all fine. If you are travelling on a tighter budget or want a dorm bed and a crowd to trek with, the backpacker hostel is the same welcome at a different price. If you want to stay for weeks and give something back, look at volunteering.
Booking
Message us on WhatsApp with your dates and how many of you there are. We are rated 5.0 on Google, which is the honest place to check us before you commit to a valley this remote.
- Where
- Ghulkin village, Gojal, Upper Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan
- Hosts
- Rehman and Sitara, with their son Ali guiding
- Food
- Wakhi home cooking, including cheese made in the house
- Rooms
- Mountain views, hot showers, beds guests consistently praise
- Getting here
- On the Karakoram Highway between Gulmit and Passu
- Nearest airport
- Gilgit, then by road up the Karakoram Highway
- Reviews
- 5.0 on Google, 69 reviews
- Booking
- WhatsApp, tell us your dates
Come stay with us
Explore the mountains, experience heights of happiness.
Tell us your dates. We plan everything else.
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